A Different World
by AFreezingFlame
Summary: Historical AU. What would have become of the world had Europe not been a major power? Instead of a 33 percent loss of population due to the black Death, Europe lost 99 percent of it's people. Other nations rise in their place. Role Reversal galore.
1. In Which Europe Loses Everything

A Different World

Not based in history. AT ALL. Don't mistake me here when I say this was just an interesting Alternate Universe that caught my attention.

Note: Read the summary: HISTORICAL AU. THIS DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN.

Here was my prompt:

What would have happened to the world had Europe not been a major power.

The obvious: The Americas, Asia, India, and Africa would not have been conquered.  
>But, who would have in their stead? My answer was China.<br>India might have become the center of the Renaissance, and the Middle East, or "Holy Lands" would not have been controlled by Europe.  
>And who would have discovered America? Japan.<br>And Russia? Well, he's Russia- he can live through just about anything.

The not-so-obvious: America, being the underdog, would eventually want to be a major power as well. Thus, Europe would be conquered. I find it ironic that America would colonize England.

Think of it in modern terms:

China/Asia= modern day Europe  
>IndiaMiddle East= Modern day Mediterranean.  
>Europe= Modern day Middle EastAfrica  
>America= Modern Day America- with more Japanese influence and no English influence.<br>Canada= Who?  
>jk JK<p>

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There was nothing left for any of them. It was a desolate land, filled with the dead and the dying.

It was hard to believe that they had once been strong, unstoppable Europe.

Little Italy clutched onto his brother, Romano.

Now… it was 1353.

The only kingdom who hadn't been majorly affected was Poland. But he was no help, trying instead to keep his kingdom strong.

Hungary was sick. Austria was sick. The Czechs, Slavs, Serbs, Croats, and Yugoslavs were sick….

Neutral states were sick, Empires were sick, kingdoms were sick.

Europe was sick.

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All that was left in the place of once great kingdoms were the Teutonic Knights, who still walked the countries and kingdoms. Only to see that nothing was left.

China, all of Asia, in fact was sick- but they were getting over it.

Russia, his siblings, his underlings were all sick.

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.

Belarus, Ukraine.

Romania, Moldova, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia.

Netherlands, Belgium.

England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland.

Spain, France, Portugal, all the Germanic Tribes.

Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, as he was starting to be called these days.

Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland.

They had to leave Iceland all alone, lest they make him sick as well.

Greece, the Ottoman Empire.

Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria.

And that didn't even include everyone.

The Holy Lands and the rest of the world were sick, but not nearly as bad.

They called it the great plague, the great pestilence, or if one wanted to be fancy, "Great Mortality," but it was a Scandinavian country who aptly named it for what it had become.

The Black Death

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India was among the first to bounce back. He saw his chance to break off from under the now-weak kingdoms of the continent, and became a sovereign state.

He was able to return to the life he had enjoyed before. He returned to his roots, the way his father had lived before his untimely death.

Had this occurred in Italy, the now-weak nation, it would have been called the Renaissance.

But, as it occurred in the Hindi nation, it was referred to as 'Punarjanma', or पुनर्जन्म.

The Middle East also broke free from European control, and became a place of learning and wisdom.

The Jewish, learning that no one could really stop them at this point, created themselves a state for their glory. Israel was finally a nation.

Christianity was somewhat left behind by the reintroducing of Judaism, but it was never forgotten.

Egypt, who was bouncing back at a slower rate, had no choice but to leave behind his mother's ways in the sweeping of the new religions. Hinduism became common, as did Buddhism.

Greece's rivalry with the Ottoman Empire was all but forgotten. They clutched to each other as their nations were taken over by Libya, Egypt, and the small, but power-hungry Israel- who already was gaining control of the Middle East.

Libya and Egypt were in control of Africa, moving their reaches far down the continent as they expanded their Empires.

But, knowing the streets of the fallen kingdoms and empires of Europe were littered with the dead, and the plague infested lands were worthless.

They left Europe as a quarantine zone, only visiting the small islands in Italy on occasion.

Africa became a symbol of development, and sophistication. The young nations inside the house of Libya and Egypt were developed to their full potential.

XXXXX

Centuries passed. It was now the 1600's.

Technology inmproved greatly. Now the countries that were in charge set their sights overseas, where there were undiscovered lands just waiting to be found.

Europe was starting to come back, but invasion and illness always put their numbers back into the low.

China became great. He destroyed Mongolia in one foul swing.

He turned his sights on the world.

…. Starting with one rather defenseless island nation who had stabbed him in the back….

Literally.

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Japan knew that he didn't have much time before his once-brother set his power-hungry sights on his nation, so he prepared his escape.

Japan also knew that his small army would be no match for the Chinese. His elder brother would have this fight ending in a Chinese victory.

He would travel to the east, as long as he needed to until he reached land. It couldn't be that terrible of a trip.

He brought a large number of his people on his fleet, and set off from the Japanese shores.

Possibly for the last time of his life he saw the fading existence of his home. He would begin again in the new world.

Japan fled as China attacked.

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A/N: Based of a really effing cool book I read.

It threw modern history out the window and discussed effing cool theories of what the world might have been if Europe had not taken everything over.

No, the Europeans are not dead, just static in their growth. They are unable to bounce back because of how little of the population there is.

Survivors of the Plague ran off to the developing countries of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

This will be continued.

Flames will not be tolerated. Unless I seriously screwed something up.

This was simply an introduction.

Review?


	2. The Americas, and Japan's Role Within

A Different World

A/N: I reiterate my previous Authors note.

THIS HAS NO HISTORICAL CONTEXT WHATSOEVER!

*boots history textbook out window*

The book is The Years of Rice and Salt, for those who wish to know~

This fic is _based_ off it, but I took it kinda differently. :D

In the book, not much about Africa and the Middle East changed, and I didn't like that much. So I changed things up. I think that they could have bounced back from invasion.

Thanks for the attention!

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Never.

Again.

Japan was never ever going to get on another boat. For as long as he lived-ever!

The people on his boat understood what he was at this point, traveling with them for so long made the people understand what he was, and they had learned a lot in comparison to other countries people, who had no idea who the nations were.

They learned that there was another level of being, not human, but not a god, that was the representation of the people themselves.

So long as his people called themselves Japanese, he could, and would, live.

His people became shockingly protective of the man, as he was the personification of everything they loved, their homeland, and their motherland.

But, back to the original point, Japan was never ever in his life going to get on a boat and sail across the big sea. It was going to haunt his nightmares for centuries, assuming he lived that long on the new world.

He had jumped ship as soon as the land was close enough to send more boats out to explore. The water was cool, and surprisingly… inviting. It was almost as if the sea was coaxing him to the shores of the new world.

He wondered what the nation would look like.

A couple years back, a ship full of Europeans escaping Asian persecution had made their way over their ocean. No one had ever heard from them, but that didn't necessarily mean that they weren't still around.

That meant that the New World could look European, he might take after the Natives, or he might even look a bit like Japan.

It was an exciting thought that he might have family over on this side.

XXXXX

Life on shore was simple, and his people were resilient. The natives were reluctant at first, but calmed down slowly. Japan and his people never threatened them, but instead, taught them all of his ways of cropping, and training the men how to fight.

Then came the day Japan was encountered by a strange Native.

It was twilight in the New World, and Japan was greeted with the voice of a young woman, a beautiful young girl with a pair of all-knowing eyes, the edges of them surrounded by smile lines.

"Hello, Land of the rising sun," Japan turned to the woman, whose form was transient, and watched her with serious, but curious eyes as the pretty woman spoke to him. "I hope you can take care of him…."

"Who?" Japan asked- interested in the strange young woman and what she meant. She reminded Japan of all the happy feelings he ever had experienced in his life, of every embrace, every tender touch. This was the feeling of being loved, no matter what.

The young native woman smiled, and it filled Japan with an ominous feeling, but it wasn't the bad kind, like when one thought of terrible things, but instead, it felt like some great tragedy was happening, and that Japan had yet to receive the news. "The one like you on this land, I mean…. He has traveled far to meet you…..as has his brother….."

"What do you mean, the one like me on this land?" But the woman's sad, tender smile only broadened, and she turned slowly, before walking away. Japan chased after the woman, but it was as she had vanished into thin air. Japan felt like weeping at the loss- she had felt like a mother, one who would love you no matter what.

Japan looked around, trying to find where the native had run off to, but instead, his eyes found and locked on to a little golden strand of hair that was bouncing from behind a rock.

Japan paused, curious. The woman, though a curious thing indeed, had disappeared, and this little thing would only take a second. He walked in the direction of the little bouncing strand of hair, before getting down onto his hands and knees so that whatever it was couldn't see him.

Japan crawled around the boulder, and was faced with a tiny boy, all dressed up in a white dress and red ribbon. He was trying to jump high so that his line of sight would be over the boulder. Apparently, he had been watching Japan.

Japan just observed the little boy-who had not yet noticed his gaze. The boy had messy blond hair, and clear blue eyes. It was then Japan heard the little boy murmur a few words in the mother tongue.

This little boy was no human, Japan realized as he watched the child as he struggled to look over the rock. This was a nation. America, named after a man that had traveled to the new world and had written about it, even though the man did not discover it, in an ironic twist of fate.

So, he took his appearance after the European settlers? _Hmmm_, Japan thought, as he spoke in the motherlanguage.

"H-Hello there…" His voice was shaky, as he hadn't spoken in the tongue of his kind in a while. However, Japan was more interested in the fact that the boy jumped once more, though this time, it was from shock and fright, not voluntary.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" The boy exclaimed in a small, scared voice, and sky-blue eyes teared up, and Japan regretted startling him a bit. The little boy tried to run away, but Japan grabbed him by the back of his dress. He struggled in Japan's grip, but couldn't break free from the older nation's hold. He started crying freely, and Japan was unsure of what he should do, but, slowly the boy's struggles waned. He sagged in the island nation's grip.

"Listen… I'm not going to hurt you…" The tiny boy only quivered in his arms, and Japan, who was getting frustrated at his inability to comfort even this small child, spoke in his native tongue, _"Daijoubu desu yo…"_ He murmured as he drew the small, blond, European-looking child into a hesitant embrace.

The little boy sniffled softly, his tears coming to a stop as the elder nation just held him, sky-blue eyes wide. Japan did nothing, not wanting to move lest it scare the boy off again.

Eventually, tiny hands worked their way into the soft fabric of Japan's clothes, and the boy clutched onto Japan, and sky-blue eyes closed tiredly. Once Japan was sure that the panicked breaths of the tiny nation had calmed down, had become the easy, relaxed breaths that indicated sleep, Japan stood, careful not to jostle the boy around too much.

As he walked off, he didn't feel the kind gaze that rested on his fading figure.

"Please…. Take care of my boys…." Native America whispered into the early night, her form fading away into the stars that had already taken so many of her brothers and sisters. It was her dying wish that her children live on.

She was greeted by the sights of all the other past nations, and felt herself be greeted by the mother of all.

The woman smiled as she faded to nothing.

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A/N: _daijoubu desu yo_- I hear it on occasion, it means something along the lines of everything will be alright, the 'desu yo' is added on to emphasize that.

Last night was the local Christmas parade. I saw a couple of Teutonic Knights. Like, for real, on horses in full uniform. I had a total fangirl moment.

As for Native America, I wanted her to be the 'mother' of America and Canada. She gives up her lives to let her children live.

Reviews are amazing!


	3. Goodbye

I, Lacey, am giving up all my works to fanfiction user verfens. She and I wrote a lot of this together. If anyone wants to finish on the way to a smile, that's the only fic she's not picking up and editing. I'll leave everything up, but will no longer update. I'm sorry guys. But Alex is a great writer! You should all go read her completed USUK and PruHun stories!

u/4771661/verfens

Alex's account.

Sorry yall.

Lacey Blair


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